Safety guard



Feb. l4, 1930i T. B. RlcE, JR

SAFETY GUARD Filed July 16, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 4, 1930. T. B. RlcE, JR 1,746,953

SAFETY GUARD Filed Jul'y 1e. 192e 2 sheets-sheet 2 orny,

Patented.v Feb. 4, 1930 man ST THOMAS B. RICE, Jn., or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA l SAFETY, GUARD,

Application med July 16,

One objectof this invention is to provide improvements in guardscapableof many variations in design and general constructlon and adapted for use in conJunction with 'an g innite number of machines,`.where,` for instance, articles are manually fed between` rollers and'thcre is otherwise danger of the operator accidentally catching his ngers between the rollers or the moving material and drawing his fingers therebetween.

`While it is understood that this device as above stated is capable of many uses without limitingthe scope of the invention in any degree, it will be hereinafter described as .applied to a clothes-wringer, having partlcularly in mind the wringers which are used either jointly with or independently of the washing-machines so widely distributed today -among the-residences of the' country and 2q driven by electricity, water, etc.

At the outset it should be realized that these vwringers are almost in every instance used by women with but relatively little technical I training, and who use the devices so infre- 25 quently as to prevent their becoming experts in their operation', while in probably more than half of the homes where such wringers areA resent, there are children who 'know nothing of the .danger of playing with the revolving rolls, and who, in addition to adults, have so frequently gotten their hands caught between the rolls and thus causing disastrous results.

Another object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a guard which in no wayinterferes with the most efficient operation of the wringer ro'lls, but is merely an accessory -.thereto and comprises at least one auxiliary roll, which permits any desired article to be 40 fed between the wringer-rolls but prevents ones hands from entering the rolls with such article.

Still another object is =to provide means whereby,`if ones hand does positively encounter the guard roll, the latter is immediately shifted into another position, and the rotation of the wringer-rolls'is'immediately stopped before ones hand can possibly have progressed tothe danger point. v

A further object is to provide in-conjunc- 1926. Serial No. 123,000.

Ation with a pair of wringer-rolls a pair of oscillatably mounted yokes extending laterally upon the opposite sides of one of said rolls,.lwhile a plurality of guard rolls extend rotatably between the corresponding armsof said yoke, together with clutch means or the like whereby the yokes are in one position and one guard roll protects the entrance between the wringer-rolls, the latter 'rotating in one direction, movement of said guard 'roll a short distance in one direction being operativeto move said yokes into a neutral position and thereby stop all movement' ofthe wringerrolls, and a still further movement of said guard roll and yokes being operative to reverse the movement of the wringer-rolls and to bring the' other of said guard rolls into operative position with respect to the wringer-rolls. v g

And a still further object is to provide a suitable resilient means operative to maintain thel guard rolls and the yokes upon which they are mounted yieldingly in either extreme position, together with means to also yieldingly maintain said rolls in a neutral position.

Still again, there has been provided'a hollow cylinder of preferably yielding material, suc as rubber,l surrounding one of the wringen-rolls and normally pressing against the operative guard-roll, the vconstruction being such that material to be wrung is 'caught between the guard roll and the'cylindrical member and without requiring further manual propulsion. Said material is conveyed between the other wringer-roll and the said cylinder as the latter passes between the cooperating wringer-rolls, the resiliency or the degree of rigidity of said cylinder being such that when in co-o eration with the guard roll, the material is ta ten from ones hands, but if the hands or even the fingers enter with the material, the cylinder is capable of yielding to such an extent as tov permit the ready withdrawal of the hand or fingers without restriction.

With these and otherobjects in View, the present invention comprises additional further novel details of construction and operation hereinafterfully brought out in the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical transverse section on the line 1-1, 3;

Fig. 2 is a similar section on the line 2 2, Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a wringer, comprising a frame, a pair of wringer-rolls, and the improvements embodied in the present invention; l

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view vof the guard rolls, the yokes upon which they are mounted, and theadjacent portions of the device;

Fig. 5 is a detail end elevation of one of the yokes, together with the adjacent wringerroll and the two guard rolls;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section similar to Fig. 1, but illustrating the use of an enlarged lower wringer-roller in lieu of the smaller wringerroller and the surrounding cylindrical mem- A ber illustrated in Fig. 1 and Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 7-7 of Fig. 3 and showing the clutch-actuating mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, all types of wringer-frames are represented by the frame therein illustrated, and which in this instance comprises an O-shaped member having a base 10, side columns 11 and 12, and an upper section 13 connecting said columns. Between said columns extend the usual upper and lower rubber or similar wringer-rolls 14 and 15 mounted upon shafts 16 and 17, said shafts being connected together in the usual Inanner by gears 18 within a housing 19, and driven by a drive-shaft 20 through any wellknown type'of clutch mechanism, shown in Figs. 3 and 6.

The clutch mechanism may be constructed as follows Y The driving shaft 20 extends into the casing a through a journal bearing and an internally positionedl bearing c. Two bevel gears cl and e are loosely mounted upon said shaft and to the latter is keyed a longitudinally movable collar f adapted to engage either of said bevel gears or to rotate freely between Vand independently of them. The ,position of said collar is shifted by a lever g, pivotally carried at h b the casing a and engaged at its free end i a link j, which extends and is pivotally connected to an arm 7c carried by a collar Z which is keyed to the shaft 16. Said collar is provided -with two spaced indentations or recesses m and an intermediate recess n. A pin 0, slidable within the opposite direction by virtue .of the clutch ber or similar rolls 24, while the extreme outer` 4 end portions of said yokes are connected by rods 25, which in turn act as guards to protect in general the guard rolls and also as a means for manually engaging and oscillating said yokesinto one of the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 6.

Located between said yokes there is preferablyfa shield or plate 26, extending transversely and substantially the entire distance between the guard rolls, while other relatively abbreviated shields or plates 27 also extend between said yokes, and transversely are respectively positioned between the wringerroll and each of the said guard rolls.

Around the lower wringer-roll 15 there is preferably positioned a radially and transversely yielding rubber or similar cylindrical gripping member 28, against which one ofthe guard rolls 24 normally presses as shown in the drawings, depending upon the directionj pivotally mounted on a pin 33 on the adjacent yoke 22, and the-other end of said link is providedv with a roller 34 which normally bears upon the curved edge 35 ofl a segment 3.6 fastened on the said column 11. Said edge 35 is interru ted by a notch 37. Said casing or housing at the inner side isprimarily open as at to enable the link 32, segment 36 and associated parts to be located within the casing andl afford clearance for movement of the adjacent parts. The curvature of this segment may be co-axial with the axisof the upper wringer-roll, or preferably j eccentric thereto, as shown in the drawing, so that the tension of the spring 29 tends to positively maintain the adj acent link 32 and thereby the yokes 22 in either lower or uppermost posi- 'tions (referring to Fig. 2), said yokes being temporarily' maintained in anintermediate position when the roller 34 enters the notch 37, and will remain in this position until manu ally shifted therefrom. i f

The tension existing between the two wringer-rollers may be adjusted in lany deadvantages of the present invention, a relatively larger lower wringer-roll may be employed, as shown in Fig. 6, said last-named roll and the usual upper roll 14 being geared together, so that their relative speeds of rotation are correct 'for insuringk the same surface speed at their line of,y contact. In the operation of this device and from thestructure hereinbefore described, it will be seen that in the normal use of the invention as illustrated in the drawings, particularly Fig. 1., clothes or` other articles may be fleld beneath the guard roll 24 and as soon as t ey and the laterally yielding cylindrical member 28, theyv are drawn without further manual ,effort .beneath the shield 27 and thence between the wringer roll 14 and the cylinder 28 roll 15.

at its point of support by the lower wringer laterally readily permits articles to be fed between it and said guard roll without forcing the arms 22 so far angularly as to cause disengagement ofthe pinfrom one of the recesses m and engagement of such pin and the neutral recess n. However, if an article which is relatively bulky or if ones hands or iingers should be caught between the roll 24 and cooperating cylinderl .28, said roll would be forced angularlyvupward a sufiicient distance forsa'id pin and neutral recess n to engage which position corresponds with .the horizontal dot-and-dash position of the arms 22 and guard rolls l24 show'n'in Fig. 1, the clutch collar f having in the meantime been' withdrawn from cooperative engagement with the'bevel gear e with the result that the rotating shaft 20 ceases to drive the roll 15'and will not again do so until the arms 22 and guard rolls carried thereby' are again shifted into the full line positions shown in 1. Or the guard rolls and supporting arms may be angularly oscillated into the diagonally extending dotand-dash position shown in Fig. 1, in which case the clutchV collar 7 engages the other of said bevel gears d and by rotating the wringer roll 15 the opposite or clock-wise direction (as viewed in Fig. 1), the fdevice is adapted to receive material for wringing purposes between the lowermost dot-and-dash position of the left-hand guard roll 24 'andsaid flexible cylinder 28. V

Having thus'described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. AThe combination of a plurality .of cooperating rollers,

means to drive the same in dpposite directions, a pair of loscillatable members mounted coaxially with one of said first rollers, a guard roller extending between are caught and gripped between said roll The ability of the cylinder 28 to flexl and -supported by said members for movethe operation of said driving means.

2. The combination of a plurality of cooperating rollers, means to drive the same in opposite directions, a hollowl cylinder surrounding one roller and bearing directly against the other roller, a guard roller nor! mally resting yieldingly against said cylinder to draw material between said .first rollers, and means connecting said guard roller with said driving means, whereby, when said guard roller is moved more than a predetermined distance from its `normal position, said driving means ceases to drive said first rollers.

3. The combination of a plurality of cooperating rollers, means to drive the same in relatively opposite directions, a hollow cylinder surrounding oneroller and bearing directly against the other roller, a guard roller, and resilient means to cause said guard roller to yieldingly engage one of said irst rollers. i 4. The combination of a plurality of cooperating rollers, means to drive the same in relatively opposite directions, a hollow cylinder surrounding one roller and bearing directly against the other roller, a guard roller, resilient means to cause said guard roller to yieldingly engage one of said first rollers, and means operative upon a movement of said guard roller beyond a predetermined extent to stop said driving means from actuating said first rollers.

5. The combination of a plurality of cooperating rollers, means to drive the same' and said guard rollers starts, stops and re y l verses the direction of rotation ofnsaid first rollers, depending upon which of said guard rollers is in operative position. v

6. `The combination ofa plurality of co'- opeiating rollers, a pair of oscillatable yokes extending upon the opposite sides of said rollers, a guard roller upon each side of said rst -rollers and rotatably carried by said yokes, one of said guard rollers being norlao mally in co-.operation with one of said Iirst rollers, and resilient means operative lt'o maintain either one of said guard rollers yieldingly positioned for displacement thereof should ones hand slip in the direction of feed of the material to said first rollers, the operative positioning of said guard rollers changing with the direction of rotation of said first rollers.

7. The combination of a plurality of movable members, with an oscillatable support,

a guard roller carried by said support, said guard roller and oneof said members being arranged to jointly grip and feed material Y so as to pass between said members, and for movement from normal position upon slippage of ones hand in the line of feed of the material.

8. The combination of a plurality of co- A operating rollers, vwith a pair of oscillatable members, a guard roller, carried by said members for movement from normal position upon slippage of ones hand in the'direction of feed of the material, said guard roller and one of said first rollers being arranged to jointly grip and feed material so as to pass between said first rollers, and means connected with said guard roller and operative upon said movement of said guard roller to stop the rotation of said first rollers.

9. The combination of a plurality of cooperating rollers, means to drive the same in opposite directions, a guard roller arranged to grip and feedmaterial jointly with one of said first rollers so as to pass between thel first rollers and for movement from normal position upon slippage of ones hand in the line of feed of the material, and means whereby when said guard roller is moved from its normal position, said driving means ceases to actuate said rst rollers.

In testimony `whereof I have affixed my signature.

' THOMAS B. RICE, JR. 

